Samson 2

When a message was received regarding an injured stray dog who had wandered onto someone’s porch, Pitiful Paws Rescue of Huntington, Virginia acted quickly to rescue this baby, before animal services came to take him away. As they walked up onto the porch of the home, Samson the Pit Bull mix immediately came wobbling toward his rescuers, licking their faces up and down.

Despite being obviously injured, Samson got excited at the sight of people, whining and crying until he was able to touch them, lick them or be petted by them. He had such a gentle disposition even though he clearly needed some medical attention. “Samson is the absolute sweetest dog I have ever met,” a spokesperson from Pitiful Paws Rescue commented.

Upon their initial examination of Samson, they found he had a fractured bone poking through his leg, several cuts and active bleed spots in random places, similar to injuries caused from being hit by a car. Immediately Samson was taken to the animal ER for x-rays. The examination revealed sweet Samson had several small fractures as well as a very bad femoral break in his rear left leg. Samson had been suffering with these injuries for too long. The veterinarians estimated his injury occurred several weeks to a month prior of his rescue as the bone had already calloused.

Samson needed to have surgery to place a large plate and pin in the injured bone, as well as to remove the fractured pieces. Extensive physical therapy would be required after the surgery to insure the best chance of him regaining full use of his leg.

Pitiful Paws Rescue reached out to the Ian Somerhalder Foundation (ISF) for some assistance with the medical bill for this procedure. Once they were able to secure the funds needed, Samson went in for his surgery. When the orthopedic specialist went in to repair the break, he discovered the break was older than originally thought. Since so much scar tissue had built up where the leg had been broken for so long and never fixed properly, it kept re-breaking and collecting more scar tissue over time. Pitiful Paws Rescue had to make a hard decision and opted to amputate Samson’s leg in order to save his life.

Samson underwent the amputation and made a fantastic recovery. He is now able to run and play and doesn’t seem to realize he lost a leg. After his recovery, an amazing family stepped forward to adopt Samson and give him the life he deserved. He now shares a home with two spaniel siblings, two human siblings, a mom and a grandma who love to spoil him.

“We appreciate everything that you [ISF] do to help rescues,” Pitiful Paws Rescue praised.

Samson’s journey led him from being an injured and defeated stray on a stranger’s porch to being a happy and healthy member of a loving family. All of this could not have been done without the quick response from some compassionate and kind individuals.